Hubbies operation

I’m not really the type of person that loves a hospital nor do I like to have anyone operated on! Unfortunately hubby had to be in the hospital today 7 August 2008 for an arthroscopy! Now this is not really a biggy, but when he normally comes out of theatre he is moody and obviously full of pain, and that I can’t really handle well. I quickly feel sorry for him and wants to cry my eyes out because there is just nothing I can do for him… Pieter had to be at the hospital at 12:00 which gave us some time to do a bit of walking around in the shopping centre, we bought some new clothes and just spend time together. Which was really nice… at about 11:35 we went through to the hospital as Dr Botha normally starts the procedures at about 13:00. Pieter got booked in and spend a couple of hours lying there… He only went into the theatre at about 14:45, I truly felt sorry for him as he couldn’t drink or eat, and prior to him leaving for theatre he already complained he was hungry… He is a little cuddly bear, and loves his food… and so the procedure began… Let me explain what an arthroscopy is… Arthro mean joint and scope is to look. Therefore a knee arthroscopy allows the surgeon to view inside your knee and directly inspect the bone and structures within. An arthroscopy is commonly known as “Keyhole surgery” these incisions are minimal and therefore reduce scarring and allow quick recovery. During the procedure a small camera-type device is inserted into the knee and this relays a picture to a television screen. At the same time instruments can be inserted into the knee so that surgery can be performed. There are a couple of reasons for this to be done; I think the picture will give you an indication A knee arthroscopy is almost always performed under general anesthetic. In most arthroscopies, three small incisions are made at the front of the knee. One incision is to insert the arthroscopy, the other to insert the instruments required during the procedure and the third to attach a tube that inflates the knee with fluid. Most arthroscopies take between 30 – 60 minutes to perform. At the end of the operation, the fluid is drained from the knee. Stitches are required to close the wounds Local anesthetic is injected into the knee to minimize discomfort after surgery, and adequate information on what to do with the dressings, padding and stockings will be given to you on the day of your surgery. With modern anesthetic techniques, most patients usually wake relatively quickly and are aware of their surroundings within one hour of the end of the procedure. So… on his way out of theatre this time, which were of cause the second time he had a arthroscopy done, he was telling everyone how nice the people in theatre is… How stunning the narcotics doctor were and the fact that he had a dream but can’t remember what… he told this story to everyone about 10 times!! Ha-ha! Then hubby realized that his thought has been blocked off, his tummy growls and he really can’t deal with his feeling! He is hungry! He sat up as the one nurse came with a plate of stew, which was just enough to feed a 5 year old. As he finished the food he started moaning and groaning and making jokes that he feels like having ribs and beer. Not long Dr Botha came around and visited everyone that was done by him for the day. Dr Botha laughed so hard when Pieter explained that he is hungry and wanted to go home, that he discharged him to go eat! Ha-ha! Anyway, everything seemed to have gone well, they removed some of the little bones and cleaned out his knee, now it’s rest for a whole month… nice! I took hubby out for Spur, seeing that he was so hungry, the poor man finished his whole plate and on return home he already started to feel sleepy. When we got home, he took his pain medicine and went to bed… This was another day of our lives.